FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT MARATHI PEOPLE - PAGE 5

PUNE: Accusing Hindi news channels of orchestrating an anti-Maharashtra campaign on the small screen, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday warned them of a "fitting response" to protect the image of the state. Referring to NCP president Sharad Pawar's reported refusal to speak to the media for distorted coverage, the Sena mouthpiece -- Saamna -- said, "Pawar has given a verbal lashing to these elements but this may not suffice while dealing with those bent on defaming Maharashtra.

MUMBAI: After MNS Chief Raj Thackeray's attack on Jaya Bachchan over her alleged anti-Marathi remarks, Shiv Sena has now targeted Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan on his Delhi origin. ( Watch ) "Shah Rukh says he is a Dilliwala. If you are from Delhi, then why have you come to Maharashtra," Sena Chief Bal Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna on Tuesday. "You come to Maharashtra to earn fame and wealth but once you have had your fill, then you will evoke the name of the region from where you came from.

MUMBAI: Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi today offered Rs two crore to MNS chief Raj Thackeray if he substantiates his allegation about Bangladeshi voters in the Assembly constituency from where he won the poll. "Raj Thackeray says there are lakhs of Bangladeshis in my constituency. I will give Rs 2 crore if he shows even one lakh Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Bhiwandi," Azmi said at a press conference here. Azmi even displayed the Rs two crore cheque on the occasion.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police on Monday barred Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray from making provocative speeches and holding press conferences for a month. "The order under section 144 of the CrPC will be delivered to Raj Thackeray today following which it will be operational," Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe said. The order issued by the police says action can be taken against him if he addresses public gatherings or addresses press conferences while the order is in force.

MUMBAI: City cinema theatres today turned into virtual fortresses ahead of tomorrow's release of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer 'My Name is Khan' as Shiv Sena kept up its attack on the Maharashtra government for siding with the actor, whom it branded a "Pakistan lover". Over 1,600 Sena activists, including functionaries, have been arrested in the last two days to thwart protests by the saffron outfit, which has vowed not to allow screening of the mega budget film till the actor apologised for his remarks favouring Pakistani players in IPL-3.

MUMBAI: Unfazed by the widespread criticism for the violence against North Indians perpetrated by his cadre, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday justified the attacks saying it was the result of a "build up" of anger among the Marathi people against the happenings over the recent past. Raj, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNA), also said that attempts to what he called harm Marathi culture from 'UP and Bihar' will not be tolerated henceforth. "I am not immature to understand what is happening around," he told a press conference at the party head office where Hindi and English news channels were barred.

NEW DELHI: Amid a war of words with the Shiv Sena over the issue of migrants in Mumbai, the BJP and RSS on Monday said there should be no discrimination against North Indians in Maharashtra and no party should create a divide for the sake of political gain. "What the RSS has said (that North Indians should be protected in Maharashtra) is absolutely correct. All over India, every countryman has rights and all political parties should respect this basic feeling among all Indians," BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar said.

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has lashed out at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for his comments on migrants from Uttar Pradesh, saying though the migrant population has "destroyed" Mumbai, his party never called them beggars. "The huge influx of UP migrants in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra has virtually paralysed the state and the migrants have destroyed the city. But we have never called them beggars. Hunger has no caste or region," Thackeray said in today's editorial of his party mouthpiece "Saamana".

MUMBAI: Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan on Monday described himself as Marathi having been born and brought up in Maharashtra. He was responding to a question whether he considered Marathi people lucky for him as his two home productions -- 'Lagaan' directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and 'Taare Zameen Par' whose script was written by Amole Gupte, both Maharashtrians -- were India's official entry for Oscars. "I am a Marathi. I am born and brought up in Maharashtra.

NEW DELHI: MNS chief Raj Thackarey has found another ally for his Marathi cause with novelist Shobha De backing his campaign saying the sons of the soil get a "raw deal" in the state as far as jobs and other opportunities are concerned. "I can understand what he is trying to tap into...I can understand the reason why he is succeeding to the extent he is. He may have tapped into something very real," De said in an interview to a TV programme. "In fact it is everybody else first and Maharashtra last.